55: Chapter 55: The Empress sends private photos; System notification: Nosebleed won't stop.

"Boss, are you alright?"

Zhao Gang, driving in the front, saw through the rearview mirror that Jiang Chen was tilting his head back, one hand covering his nose, while the other was desperately trying to hide his phone against his chest, his expression extremely bizarre.

"I'm... I'm fine."

Jiang Chen replied with a congested voice, feeling the hot flow in his nasal cavity still gushing out, that wave of heat rushing straight up his spine to the top of his head. "It's just that the heating in this car is too strong, I'm getting a bit overheated. Old Zhao, turn off the air conditioning, open the window, let me get some air."

Zhao Gang glanced at the "22-degree constant temperature" displayed on the dashboard, his eye twitching slightly.

Overheated?

In the middle of the night, did you see something you shouldn't have?

But he was a professional bodyguard and knew what he should and shouldn't see. So, he silently rolled down the window, letting the cool night breeze pour in, attempting to dissipate the scent of hormones permeating the backseat.

Jiang Chen took a few deep breaths of cold air, finally managing to suppress that wicked fire a little.

He carefully lit up the screen again, his fingertips trembling slightly as he opened the unread message.

He had only glanced at the thumbnail just now and couldn't handle it. Now, opening the full-size image...

"Hiss—"

Jiang Chen gasped, feeling the nosebleed he had just stopped about to burst forth again.

In the photo, Jiang Wanqiu stood inside the Dawn City bedchamber, which was filled with a metallic texture. To demonstrate the breathability of this so-called "improved tactical lining," she had specifically chosen a backlit angle.

The soft lighting outlined her breathtaking silhouette.

That black set of nanomaterial was as thin as a cicada's wing, clinging tightly to every inch of her skin, as if it were a second layer of skin. What should have been a rugged tactical style was forcibly worn by her into an ultimate look of innocent seductiveness.

Especially those legs.

She had one foot on the mech's pedal, her body leaning slightly forward; this pose perfectly showcased the lines of her legs and lower abdomen. The black tactical strap on her thigh created a slightly indented, fleshy curve, possessing both the power of a female warrior and a suffocating allure.

The most lethal part was her gaze.

That sense of innocence, wanting to please the god while also carrying a touch of shyness and confusion, was simply the greatest weapon of mass destruction against men.

[Jiang Wanqiu (Voice Message): Father God... are you still looking?]

[Jiang Wanqiu: Um... if you don't like this black one, Wanqiu has a white one here too. Although white gets dirty easily in the Wasteland, if Father God likes it, Wanqiu is willing to wash clothes every day for you!]

"White?"

In Jiang Chen's mind, an image instantly surfaced—something sacred and inviolable, yet one that made people unable to resist the urge to defile it.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

He coughed violently, hurriedly typing in the input box, his typing speed as fast as if he were coding:

"No need to change! Black is quite good! Very... professional!"

"I appreciate this kind of tactical style. From now on, just wear it at home... cough, just wear it in private settings. No need to wear it on the battlefield; it's easy to make enemies die from nosebleeds, which would be an unfair victory."

After sending this message, Jiang Chen let out a long breath, feeling his "Father God" persona tottering.

The car soon drove into Yunding Villa.

Jiang Chen rushed into the villa like a thief, pulling all the curtains tightly shut, and even checked for any micro-cameras left behind by Academician Chen Shuyin.

After confirming it was safe, he threw himself into the soft large bed, preparing to properly "critique" the artistic components of this set of photos.

However. When he swiped to the last photo, his finger suddenly paused.

The composition of this photo was a bit strange.

Jiang Wanqiu seemed to be showcasing the lines of her back, so she was taking the photo with her back to the mirror. But because of the angle, the edge of the mirror reflected the scene outside the bedchamber window.

That was the extreme north of Dawn City, a place of deathly silence covered in ice and snow all year round.

But in that wind and snow, there seemed to be an extremely faint blue light, one that couldn't be spotted at all if not looked at carefully, flickering on and off.

"What is this?"

Jiang Chen frowned, using two fingers to zoom in on the screen, and zoom in again.

Although the pixels were a bit blurry, he still clearly saw the outline of that luminous object.

That was not natural light, nor was it the radiation light common in the Wasteland.

It was an extremely regular, pale blue breathing light with a certain geometric aesthetic, embedded in a huge metal structure half-buried under the ice and snow.

That metal structure... didn't look like the Wasteland style.

Wasteland architecture was mostly rugged, heavy, and industrial, full of rivets and welding marks.

But this thing had smooth and rounded lines, was silver-white all over, exuded a sense of minimalist sophistication, and even looked a bit like... Apple Inc.'s product design style?

"Wanqiu."

Jiang Chen instantly put away his previous lecherous look, his expression becoming serious. He keenly sensed that this might be a shocking discovery.

"In your last photo, the place outside the window with the blue light, where is it?"

Less than three seconds after the message was sent, Jiang Wanqiu's reply came; clearly, she had been guarding the screen the whole time.

[Jiang Wanqiu: Ah? Father God, are you talking about that...]

[Jiang Wanqiu: That is the depths of the extreme northern ice fields, formerly a forbidden zone for life. But the blizzard stopped these past few days, revealing some ruins underneath.]

[Jiang Wanqiu: Wanqiu was just about to report to you! Just after taking the photos, I took some people to scout that area. That ruin... is very strange.]

"How is it strange?" Jiang Chen pressed.

[Jiang Wanqiu: The entrance to the ruin has no radiation, nor are there any mutant beast guards. However, our electronic equipment malfunctions as soon as it gets close.]

[Jiang Wanqiu: Moreover, the material of that door is not any alloy we know of. Grand Commander Lei Zhen tried it with a laser cutter, and it didn't even leave a mark.]

[Jiang Wanqiu: Most importantly... I saw a strange symbol on the door. It wasn't the emblem of the Gaia Civilization, but rather one that... looked like an apple with a bite taken out of it? No, it's some kind of spiral galaxy pattern.]

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Not Earth civilization? Not Gaia Civilization either? Could it be... alien civilization?

All along, he had thought that the game "Civilization Recovery" was just connecting to a future Wasteland in a parallel world. But now it seemed, these waters were even deeper than he had imagined.

If that ruin truly contained alien technology... then it wouldn't just be as simple as Lithography Machines and mechs. That could be warp engines! Antimatter weapons! Or even immortality technology!

"Gulp." Jiang Chen swallowed, feeling the blood in his entire body boiling. This was a hundred times more exciting than looking at private photos just now!

That was the desire for unknown power.

"Wanqiu, listen to me." Jiang Chen typed rapidly, every word exuding unquestionable authority: "Immediately assemble the most elite troops of Dawn City! Bring all heavy weapons! And that 'Zero' scientist!"

"I want you to immediately, right now, at any cost, blast open the door of that ruin for me! The things inside are important to me! Very important!"

On the other side of the screen, Jiang Wanqiu clearly felt Father God's urgency.

She didn't waste any words, directly sending a video that was only a few seconds long.

In the video, she had already changed into that black nano combat suit she was just demonstrating the "breathability" of, with a tactical exoskeleton on the outside, and a high-energy particle rifle in her hand.

In the wind and snow, her red eyes were as sharp as knife blades; the previous shyness was gone, replaced by the decisive killing intent of an empress.

[Jiang Wanqiu: As you command! Father God! The first echelon of Dawn City has finished assembling! Target: extreme northern ice fields! No matter what monsters or demons are hiding inside, Wanqiu will catch them and sacrifice them to you!]

"Good!"

Jiang Chen clenched his fists. He closed the chat box and reopened the photo that caught his attention, trying to find some clues in that blurry reflection again.

However. When he turned the image brightness to the maximum and zoomed in on that corner again. His pupils suddenly contracted.

He hadn't noticed it just now. Beside that blue light, in the crack of the metal door covered by ice and snow... there seemed to be a pair of eyes.

A pair of pale white, pupil-less eyes... that were staring intently at the window of Jiang Wanqiu's bedchamber.

Who was it? What was it looking at? Looking at Jiang Wanqiu? Or... through Jiang Wanqiu's mirror, looking at me on this side of the screen?

A chill ran from the soles of his feet straight up to the top of his head, and Jiang Chen felt his scalp go numb.

"What the hell... this is a bit creepy."